


my soul on fire

by welcometothehumanrace



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Langst, M/M, Why?, enjolras!keith, grantaire!lance, i don't know why, it takes places before everyone dies, lesmis!au, no death tho
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-04
Updated: 2017-08-04
Packaged: 2018-12-10 21:21:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11700132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/welcometothehumanrace/pseuds/welcometothehumanrace
Summary: “You came up with the red and black thing. It was catchy, of course I wanted to repeat it.”“You didn’t have to encourage him with it!”“Well I ended up supporting you so that should count for something.”-The Les Mis Au no one needed or asked for.





	my soul on fire

**Author's Note:**

> What happens when you’re a Voltron fan and a musical fan. I rewatched Les Mis and during ‘ABC Cade/Red and Black’, all those glares Enjolras was sending Grantaire was inspired this.
> 
> This takes place immediately after the above mention scene/song but for those of you unfamiliar with the story (that I highly recommend you listen to/watch its gr8) BASICALLY keith is the leader of the revolution (against the Galra or France, whoever you prefer) and has just gotten into an argument with shiro about him mooning over some girl when they should be focusing their efforts on the fight. lance was not helpful during this argument lol. There’s lots more, but that’s all that relevant for this little piece. 
> 
> Here we go

Lance watched Keith follow Shiro with his gaze, his deep purple eyes narrowing as Shiro made his way out of the café to talk with Matt. Seems like their little chat hadn’t gotten through to Shiro.

Lance shrugged, and took a sip from his bottle. It didn’t really matter to him whether or not Shiro fought with them. What difference did one person make anyway, and the guy was probably better off not risking his neck like the rest of them.

One of them deserved to live through this ordeal.

As he continued studying Keith, something he was doing more often than not, he nearly choked when the boy snapped his eyes at Lance, glaring right at him.

So maybe goading Shiro while he and Keith had been fighting wasn’t his best idea.

Immediately averting his gaze, Lance got up from his seat in the middle of the room and moved to a more secluded part of the café where Keith couldn’t glare daggers at him so easily. Settling down into the booth, he was surprised when he looked up and saw Keith making his way from his plans to the dark corner Lance had situated himself in.

Guess he’d made a big enough ass of himself that he could distract Keith from his singular purpose of revolution. Lovely.

“I blame you, just so you know,” Keith said in way of greeting, tone hard as he slid into the booth next to him. Not that Lance wasn’t prepared for the quip.

“I didn’t even do anything really. If anything you should blame yourself.”

“Me? How is it my fault?” Keith asked, looking completely flabbergasted. It baffled Lance that someone he spoke so eloquently in front of the masses could make faces like that in private. It also baffled Lance that he found the face so endearing.

“You came up with the red and black thing. It was catchy, of course I wanted to repeat it.”

“You didn’t have to encourage him with it!”

“Well I ended up supporting you in the end, so that should count for something.”

“Well look what good that did,” Keith grumbled, crossing his arms and slouching. “We get news that Alfor is dead, entirely setting up the revolution we’ve been working so hard for, and he leaves!”

“I mean he did look over the moon about the girl he saw earlier,” Lance added, trying to defend Shiro some. He was his friend after all, and even more of Keith’s friend. He was just too angry to remember that right now.

“He could’ve been over the sun for her—”

“That’s…that’s not how phrases work Keith.”

“And it still wouldn’t matter because this,” he exclaimed, ignoring Lance’s comment and gesturing at the café. He could see Hunk going over strategy plans and keeping spirits up while little Pidge continued to give information they’d managed to get through eavesdropping and sneaking around. Beyond them, dozens of people worked, planning and organizing for the revolution that was now imminent. He wondered how many of them would actually make it. He was brought back to the moment by Keith. “This is more important than any personal drama Shiro or any of us have got going on.”

Lance nodded slowly, though there was something bothering him. It had bugged him earlier when he heard Keith mention it when he was fighting with Shiro, but hearing it repeat it again made him want to pick at it.

“So you don’t think it would’ve made a difference if you’d been there with him?”

“I’m gay Lance.”

“No, that’s not—I don’t mean—” Lance sighed running his fingers through his hair. He didn’t know why he was even bothering with this. He knew the answer. Keith was more dedicated to the cause than anyone here, more passionate about it than Lance had ever seen anyone be passionate about anything. “Never mind.”

Keith looked at him, gaze concentrated on him in a way that made Lance want to squirm—though he managed not to. He didn’t manage to fight off his instinct to take another swig of the bottle in his hand. He averted his gaze, if only to avoid watching disappointment take over Keith’s eyes.

“What,” Keith asked. “What were you going to say?”

“I said never mind, so don’t mind it.”

“Lance don’t be so difficult, just spit it out.”

“You’re the one being difficult, I’m just trying to enjoy my evening.”

“Oh my _god,_ Lance!”

“So, you’d never do anything?”

Keith furrowed his brows, and Lance wanted to take the words back. Not that Keith even knew what he was talking about, his scrunched-up face cluing Lance in on that. But he shouldn’t have even brought the topic up to begin with.

“That’s a very vague question Lance.”

“You…” Lance started, before sighing and taking a long drink from his bottle. “You’d never pursue anything with anyone? At all? Like I get your point, I get why you think we shouldn’t be focusing or prioritizing anything above this, and I understand why you’re mad that Shiro would be losing his mind over some girl he doesn’t even know. But there’s really no one you’d ever let yourself be with? Not even someone in the fight with you? Not even—”

And Lance shut up himself up real quick after that. He glared at the bottle in his hand, as if it could be blamed for his near slip up. The last thing Keith needed was Lance making an idiot of himself over him, he’d made that abundantly clear with his fight with Shiro.

“Lance,” Keith said, voice low but serious. “You know better than anyone how much this all means to me. I can’t let anything like romance or a relationship get in the way of that. Even if I put the revolution above it. Because that’d be energy I could be putting towards progress that I’d be wasting—”

“Wasting,” Lance repeated, unable to hold in his scoff. “Of course, you’d put it like that.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It _means_ that you’re the only person I know that’d call love a waste.”

Keith bristled at that, and Lance felt him turn his body to face him. He kept his gaze fixated on his bottle, even as Keith inched his face closer him in an effort to meet his eyes.

“So you would?” Keith asked, and who gave him the right to sound so betrayed? “You’d put some girl or guy before what we’ve worked so hard for?”

“What you’ve worked so hard for,” Lance corrected, not wanting to explain that he already had. “I’ve mostly been along for the ride.”

“Don’t deny your contribution,” Keith scolded, and Lance regretted chancing a glance at his face because now he couldn’t look away. “You’ve given us plenty of insight, and plans, and strategies—”

“Yeah because I’ve been here Keith,” Lance interrupted bitterly. The last thing he needed when his thoughts were as cloudy as they were was to hear Keith complimenting him. “I’ll point something out when I happen to overhear, but I mostly here for the booze.”

That was a lie, and they both knew that, but what wasn’t a lie was Lance’s indifference about the revolution. And to be fair, Lance was indifferent about most things nowadays, but he was pretty sure that wasn’t going to help settle down Keith’s glare.

“Alright, you clearly don’t care about this cause as much as I do—”

“Keith, no one cares about this cause as much as you do.”

“That’s not what I meant and you know it!” Keith snapped. Lance quieted, but raised an eyebrow in response—both a challenge and a question. Keith exhaled, clearly trying to calm himself down, and Lance couldn’t help but grin. Keith was adorable when he got himself worked up.

“You don’t really seem to care at all about the cause,” Keith said slowly, as if giving Lance a chance to disagree or argue that statement. When he did neither of those things, Keith gave an angry huff and shoved roughly at Lance. Taken completely by surprise, he managed to catch himself without dropping his bottle, and looked up to Keith with wide eyes.

“Then why are you even here?” Keith demanded, but continued before Lance could even comprehend the question. “I meant what I said earlier, this isn’t a game! We could all potentially die—we’re going against the entire county’s guard! So, either you’re putting your life on the line for something you don’t even believe in like a complete idiot or you’re just goofing around now but are planning on leaving us once the fight actually starts—”

“You really think I’d do that?”

And since Lance had started drinking as often as he did, he hadn’t really had it in him to glare at anyone anymore. The alcohol was meant to be an escape, a way for him to stay lighthearted as often as possible. So that Lance was able to level a glare at Keith was saying something about how angry he was at his sentence.

Yeah, maybe Lance didn’t care as much about the cause, but he did care about the people. He wasn’t going to spend all his time in this rundown café if he didn’t care about something.

Or better yet, someone.

Keith did have the good grace to look a little guilty, gaze dropping to the floor but he didn’t back down.

“No, not really,” He murmured, voice soft, “But why else Lance? Why are you risking your life for something you don’t even believe in?”

Keith rose his eyes to look at Lance imploringly and what was Lance supposed to say?

Was he supposed to say that he’d say anything at all as long as Keith kept looking at him with same concentration he gave this goddamn revolution. That his eyes were the most beautiful things he’d ever seen, and that even though the alcohol made him dizzy, he would always be able to focus on his eyes. That Keith overall was just the most beautiful person Lance had ever been lucky enough to catch a glimpse of, let alone spend most of his time with.

Or should he say that Keith was the brightest flame he’d ever seen, and when he spoke he only got brighter. That Lance hadn’t felt anything in a long time before knowing Keith, but hearing him go on and on about his dreams of revolutions caused emotions to stir in Lance that he hadn’t felt in years. That his passion was so infectious that it gave Lance ridiculous dreams of his own, like never drinking a drop of alcohol again and going back to school. Dreams like maybe Keith could speak that passionately about him one day.

That he was in love with Keith, and had been since the first time he’d seen him speak on the school courtyards, nothing but a soap box and his words and his voice, yet still able to draw in a crowd so large Lance nearly got swallowed in it. That he’d be in love with him till the day he died, and would follow him until that day came.

Instead he shrugged bumping shoulders with Keith.

“Guess cause we’re red and black,” Lance joked, before pointing his bottle at Keith, who was looking at him with a gaze that was both exasperated and fond. “Partners till the very end—as if you’d last this long without me. You’re obviously red—color of desire as Shiro so eloquently described.”

Lance laughed at Keith’s groan, glad the boy was letting him off the hook for not giving him a real answer. His grinned widened even more when Keith joined in his laughter. Keith didn’t laugh often, and Lance couldn’t help the sense of pride that filled him when he did.

“That leaves you with the color black you know,” Keith griped back, though his gaze had a thoughtful look to them. “Shiro didn’t exactly give it the happiest description.”

“Eh,” Lance waved off, looking across the room and taking a long drink from his bottle. “I’ll take being the color of despair as long as I’m next to you.”

**Author's Note:**

> I was going to switch it, make Keith black and Lance red for the sake of giving a nod to season three, but the langst was calling me.
> 
> This is only a one shot bc everyone’s supposed to die and I couldn’t write it. But know in this AU, everyone probs would die.
> 
> Also this is a short break for me from the monster of a fic I'm working on now, so look out for that!


End file.
